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Ian Whittell at The Times |
Blackburn 2 Fulham 0
Blackburn Rovers swept aside Fulham, improving the mood of a club that had not won in nine league games and where the position of Sam Allardyce, the manager, had come under close scrutiny.
That Christopher Samba and Ryan Nelsen, the Blackburn central defenders, were on the scoresheet from set-pieces may have been predictable, as was the route-one football served up, but in contrast to some recent perfunctory performances, Rovers were full value for the win.
For Allardyce, whom one report had suggested this week was two games from dismissal after only 13 months at Ewood Park, the win must have been particularly welcome.
"All of a sudden, there's a massive turnaround in terms of pressure just because one little man writes something about me, saying my job's not safe," he said. "And that's created extra pressure on everyone.
"We've earned a little bit of criticism and this is going to help us overcome that and look forward to a [Carling Cup] semi-final on Wednesday."
Samba struck after Damien Duff's poor clearance from Benni McCarthy's corner. Nelsen's goal nine minutes into the second half was also the product of poor defending as he slipped away from Aaron Hughes to glance in McCarthy's free kick, with Fulham claiming offside.
In between the goals, however, Fulham had enjoyed a glut of possession, but Andrew Johnson and Duff were wasteful in front of goal, while Clint Dempsey struck the Blackburn crossbar with a bicycle kick before leaving the field with suspected season- ending knee ligament damage. Paul Konchesky, the left back, was also replaced with an ankle problem.
"I thought at half-time if we continued playing as we had done, we would be good value for an equaliser," Roy Hodgson, the Fulham manager, said. "But they got the second goal - which we thought was offside - and that is a nice margin to have."
Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): P Robinson 5 - P Chimbonda 5, C Samba 6, R Nelsen 6, G Givet 6 (sub: D Hoilett, 58min 5) - B Emerton 5 (sub: M Salgado, 82), S N'Zonzi 5, S Reid 6 (sub: K Andrews, 70 5), M Olsson 5 - N Kalinic 4, B McCarthy 8.
Substitutes not used: J Brown, D Dunn, F Di Santo, M Rigters.
Booked: Samba.
Next: Wigan Athletic (h).
Fulham (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 5 - S Kelly 5, B Hangeland 5, A Hughes 5, P Konchesky 5 (sub: T Kallio, 46 5) - Z Gera 6, D Murphy 5, C Baird 5, D Duff 5 - A Johnson 5, C Dempsey 8 (sub: E Nevland, 63 5).
Substitutes not used: P Zuberbühler, B H Riise, C Smalling, J Greening, K Dikgacoi.
Booked: Baird, Nevland, Gera.
Next: Tottenham Hotspur (a).
Referee: K Friend.
Attendance: 21,287.
Source .